(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a smart lead-acid charging-management system, and more particularly, to one focusing on management of multiple lead-acid batteries that upgrades charging efficiency and extends service life of the lead-acid battery by an automatically created master-slave system controlled by a primary device to charge those batteries one by one by turns to maintain activated status of plate in the course of charging each battery unit under lower source demand.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
Disregarding a very remarkable achievement reported in R&D of new types of secondary battery (including Ni-MH and Lithium-Ion batteries) during nearly a decade, primary applications of those new secondary batteries remain focusing on providing compact and portable sources needed in Notebook, cellular phone, personal digital assistance (PDA), and other communication equipments; however, starting, lighting, and ignition (SLI) systems still rely upon a lead-acid battery. As oil price soars highly and consecutive launching of hybrid vehicle, lead-acid batteries remain an only selection for the hybrid vehicle mainly due to that the already merchandised secondary battery has not yet offered advantages of cheaper price, matured technology, safe and reliable, and recyclable as found with the lead-acid battery. It is estimated that the status of the lead-acid battery remains unshakable in the coming decade. Furthermore, continuous outstanding improvements have been made to the lead-acid battery either in density of energy, density of power or life cycle thanks to inputs of new technologies and materials.
Having lead-acid battery as a standby energy source for mobile transportation carriers (e.g., long-distance trucks and yachts) to serve as source of power for internal equipments of the transportation carriers while they are not moving so to prevent oil consumption and air pollution caused by otherwise continuously running engines. At present, a framework of the lead-acid battery as a standby energy source operates on multiple batteries connected in parallel to increase capacity is and instantaneous output energy. Partial energy is induced to charge lead-acid battery while delivering power to internal equipments of the carrier through alternator and voltage regulator devices. Whereas transient surge created by changed instantaneous load and absence of management of charging/discharging result in over discharging or over charging, and the service life of lead-acid battery actually consumed usually fails to reach half of its nominal life cycle.
To maintain effective charging efficiency for the lead-acid battery plate within the framework of multiple batteries connected in parallel, conventional approaches require power supply that is sufficient for distribution to each battery and consequently output power of the alternator must be relatively upgraded. Whereas whether the battery is fully charged should be judged by terminal voltage at the battery, the conventional framework of batteries in parallel prevents judging the charging status of a battery or isolating any malfunctioning battery. The presence of any failed battery not only wastes charging energy but also generates heat that seriously affects service life of the battery. Therefore, developing a smart battery management system for providing optimal charging method, judging health status of each battery, balancing capacities among batteries, isolating failed battery, and providing information on use status of the battery is an important way to upgrade life cycle of the lead-acid battery.